The Serpent and The Dragon

The river wound, twisting and turning through the shallow valley. The melancholy humm of the stream sounded out, bouncing off of the mountainside.

Tall grass grew rampant, spread across the lands along with fern and flowers, and rabbits and bunnies hid amongst the shrubbery.

Amidst the chaos, there was a girl. She was young, but not too young. She was in her twenties. She wore a red kimono, embellished with flowy pink ribbons and a black obijime, and her hair was held up in a neatly tied bun. She was waiting. For what, it was hard to tell.

The girl sat with her legs like a mermaid's tail, silent and still that any passerby may think she we're a statue. Even her breathing was shallow enough to go unnoticeable.

A gust of wind blew through the valley, threatening to undo her bun before it settled down. A large, flying creature could be seen overhead, twisting and turning like the river.

It was red, and scaly, and huge. It lumbered down towards the girl, who didn't move an inch.

"You're late.", she said. The dragon only huffed in response.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, the girl moved, gracefully swooping herself up and clambering onto the dragon's back.

Without hesitating, the dragon rose into the air, and they were off.

The dragon twisted along with the river, following its set path. They wound over a small set of trees, big enough to be called a tiny forest, and traversed across endless plains in between mountains.

They hovered over a small town, and people gawked and stared and pointed at the dragon and the girl, in awe at the sight.

Finally, the dragon began to slow. It stayed floating above a patch of land, right where the river met the ocean.

"Are you ready?", the dragon asked, speaking for the first time in this narrative.

"I'm ready.", the girl responded.

Without another word, the dragon drew lower and closer to the ocean, and the girl leaped from the dragon's head and into the water.

She crashed with a splash, landing against the cool surface.

For a minute, nothing happened, and the dragon awaited silently.

A splash in the water, and the girl had transformed. She was no longer a human girl, but a serpent.

She lifted her tail out of the water, bringing it down which resulted in a large gush of water.

The dragon laughed merrily.

"Well done.", the dragon said. "Well done indeed."

The serpent made a noise like a dolphin; a high pitched, laugh- like squeal.

"Thank you.", the serpent said, head out of water, and the dragon only nodded.

"Shall we go?" Another nod.

The serpent and the dragon traversed the oceans, one by sky, the other by seas. They traveled far, far enough so that the little valley they had come from became but a speck on the horizon, and still, they travel farther than that.

They journeyed through seas and storms, traversed through depths and highs. They traveled cities and unfound land, until they reached another valley, with yet another winding river— a mirror of the one they had come from. Only because it was the same one. But in another form.

Somewhere amidst their travels, they had crossed plains.

The serpent reached the shore, and with a leap, transformed back into the girl. She landed gracefully on the beach, and the dragon stayed hovering in the air. The dragon could not transform, for he did not wish he could, unlike the girl, who did.

The dragon lowered so that the girl may climb upon his back, and off they went.

At some point along the winding river, the girl got off, and the dragon left.

The nameless girl sat with her legs like a mermaid's tail upon the grass, and waited. For what, it was no longer that hard to tell. 

Hours later, there was a gust of wind, and the dragon re- appeared.

"You're late.", the girl said. The dragon only huffed in response.

And so, the cycle continues.

 -----

Somewhere, in the midst of Kyoto, a young girl with straight black hair tied up into a ponytail sits, scouring the lines of a familiar book.

"The Serpent and and The Dragon", the title reads. She reads and re- reads every single page, making sure to catch every detail and missing nothing.

Her room is dark, but there is a light on her night stand that gives a good view for traveling eyes, and her window is open, letting in the light of the full moon.

She is having a pleasant time reading, flipping through each page delicately.

From the downstairs, her mother calls.

"Hanako dear, it's time for dinner!", she says.

"I'm coming mom!", the girl calls back. She re- reads one last sentence before placing the book on her bed stand, saving it for later that night when she would have the time to read it once more, and scurries down to dinner.

The smell of baked sushi and cinnamon wafts from the kitchen through the staircase, and the girl smiles.

She takes her seat at the dining room table along with her mom, her dad, obaachan and ojīchan.

They eat silently, disrupted only but often whispers from her obaachan to her ojīchan, but her mother tries to keep up the conversation by breaking in the latest news she saw on the television.

They eat  dumplings and baked sushi, and talk about the weather and about a recent bank robbery near their house and obaachan scolds Hanako's dad for having a 'bad security' in their household.

Hanako herself stays quiet for most of the time,thinking only of her book and about the dragon and the serpent.

That night, the dragon and the serpent traverse the winding river five more times before Hanako finally puts down the book and lets her mom tuck hee in for bed.

She dreams about the story and imagines herself flying on the dragon's back, and riding the serpent through the seas. She dreams herself into turning into a dragon, then a serpent, then both. A dragon serpent! One who can both swim and fly.

The next morning, she awakes reluctantly, sad to let go of her dreams.

-----

Somewhere, in a land far away, a girl waits by a winding river. For what, we already know.

She sits with her legs like a mermaids tail and stays silent and still, barely even breathing.

There is a gust of wind and the dragon arrives.

"You're late.", she says. The dragon only huffs in response.